There's More Than One Heart
by PlushChrome
Summary: Sora shows up in Shibuya to investigate a heartless threat, but can't seem to find any heartless. Enter Joshua, who tells him he can "show" him where to find the shadows. Now Sora has 7 days to find the keyhole or lose his right to exist. Rated T to be safe.
1. Prologue: One More World, One More Week

_Summary: Sora shows up in Shibuya to investigate a heartless threat, but can't seem to find any heartless. Enter Joshua, who tells him he can "show" him where to find the shadows. Now Sora has 7 days to find the keyhole or he loses his right to exist._

_Warnings: Probably be some violence in later chapters, I'm not sure yet. As for Spoilers, don't read unless you've completed TWEWY, KH, and KH2. There might possibly be spoilers for CoM and 358/2, but I don't think there will be anything severe. If there is, I'll be sure to put spoiler warnings in the chapter._

* * *

"I dunno, Donald, this doesn't seem like a very dangerous place," Sora said as he and his two friends, Donald Duck and Goofy, walked across a very busy street.

They were getting quite a few funny looks, and Sora fidgeted nervously. In all the time the three of them had hopped from world to world, nobody had really seemed to care that he was followed by a giant talking Duck and Dog, who wore clothes and fought dark monsters.

Maybe it was the heartless themselves. Usually, a world was already overrun with the monsters by the time the heroes showed up, and the locals were ready to believe just about anything.

But, there weren't any heartless around. They had been looking everywhere for the better part of a half hour, and when they asked a couple of locals whether or not they'd seen any dark monsters running around, they had been told to cut down on the Sake.

Sora sighed and stopped in the middle of the street. He looked around one more time and noticed that even in a world as mixed up and diverse as this one was, he stuck out like a sore thumb. All sorts of people were staring at him as they passed.

"Come on, guys," he said. "Let's go back to the gummi ship. Maybe the scanners were wrong."

As Sora turned around, he noticed that there was one local watching him with a very unusual expression.

For one thing, the blonde kid was just leaning against a wall, arms crossed, staring at him. But what really got Sora's attention was that he was smirking, as if he knew something funny.

He laughed when he saw Sora notice him, and standing up from his position against the wall, he beckoned for Sora to come to him, and then walked down a nearby street.

"Hey!" Sora called, running after the guy.

When he reached the street, he looked around. The guy was gone. "Where'd he go?" He asked aloud, as Donald and Goofy caught up with him.

"Who?" Goofy asked. Sora turned towards his two friends. "There was this guy," he explained. "He was wearing blue, and he had blonde hair, and he wanted to tell me something. Maybe he knows what happened to the Heartless!"

With that, Sora began running through the city, just looking for the guy.

He finally found him standing next to some sort of mural on a wall in an alleyway, looking up at the artwork of a rather strange looking cat.

"Hey, you!" Sora called, running up to the guy, who turned and smiled at him.

"Hello, Keyblade Master," he said. Sora stopped in his tracks, causing Donald and Goofy to run into him. The three friends toppled to the ground, but Sora quickly pushed them off of him and stood, staring at the guy.

"Wha-!?" He said. "You know about the Keyblade!?" The kid giggled through his ever-present smirk, and Sora felt a twinge of annoyance before he shook it off.

"You could say that," the kid said. "But before we talk any further, where are my manners?" He reached a hand up and brushed a stray lock of blonde hair out of his eyes.

"My name's Yoshiya Kiryu, but you can call me Joshua."

"I'm Sora," Sora said with a smile. "Donald Duck!" Donald exclaimed, pointing at himself with his thumb. "The Name's Goofy," Goofy said with a genial chuckle.

"Hee hee hee," was the response they got, and Sora's smile faltered in confusion. That was an unusual response. What was with this world, anyway? Did the three of them stick out that much?

"Hmph," Joshua said, frowning a little at the three of them. "You're not at all what I expected," he said. "But I suppose you'll do."

"Do?" Sora asked, surprised. "Do for what?"

"For a Keyblade Master, of course," said Joshua, smirking at them again. He stood back a little and looked Sora over. Sora fidgeted nervously, wondering why he felt suddenly inadequate under Joshua's gaze.

"I'll admit," Joshua said, returning his smirk to Sora's face. "I was hoping for someone more... imaginative."

Sora frowned. He hated it when someone treated him like a kid. "I have imagination!" He exclaimed. Joshua giggled again, and Sora blinked in annoyance. Something about this guy just... got under his skin.

"I dare say you do," Joshua smirked. "But that wasn't what I was referring to." Then he gave a small sigh. "Oh well," he said with a shrug. "Better than nothing, I guess. Shall we get on with it?"

Sora was confused. "Get on with what?" He said. Joshua smirked (surprise, surprise) and brushed the hair out of his eyes again.

"Why, destroying the heartless, of course!" He said. "You're the Keyblade Master, aren't you supposed to be tracking them down?"

"I tried," Sora said, shoulders slumping in disappointment. "I can't even find a Shadow!"

"Hee hee hee, That's because you can't see them here," Joshua said, holding one hand up to his face as he laughed.

"Oh," Sora said. "Well... where can I see them?" "You can only see them in the UG," Joshua said. "And you can only get to the UG by entering the game."

Sora brightened visibly. "Game?" He said. "Oh, that's easy. I'm good at games."

"Hee hee hee, I'm sure you are," Joshua said. "This game lasts for 7 days." "Seven!?" Sora said. "That'll take forever!" Joshua smirked. "That depends on whether you win or lose," he said.

Sora nodded. "Okay," he said. "What kind of game is it?"

"It's really very simple," Joshua said. "Every day, you get a mission sent to your cell phone. You have to complete the mission within a time limit, or you lose. Along the way, there will be Reapers who try to make you lose."

"Wait a minute," Sora said. "Cell phone? I don't have a cell phone!"

Joshua sighed. "I suppose I could manage to get one for you once you enter the game. Now, there's also the small matter of your entry fee."

"Entry fee?" Sora asked. "What's that?"

"The entry fee is a price that every player has to pay before they can enter the game. If you lose, your entry fee is lost forever. If you win, your entry fee is returned to you, it's as easy as that."

"What's the entry fee?" Sora asked. "That varies from person to person," Joshua explained. "What we make you pay depends on what kind of person you are."

"Oh," Sora said. "That makes sense, I guess."

Joshua snickered. "It does, doesn't it?" He said.

"Alright, I'm ready!" Sora said, smiling. "Where do I go to sign up?"

Joshua broke into a real smile. "Just leave that to me," he said.

* * *

Neku was walking along Dogenzaka, minding his own business, when he saw him.

_Oh great,_ he thought. _This can't be good._

Standing in front of Ramen Don was Joshua, smirking at Neku as the red-head drew closer.

"Whaddaya want, Josh?" Neku snapped when he was close enough to speak without being overheard. Josh pouted. "What, no hello?" He said. "It's been about a year, aren't you glad to see me?"

Neku let out a bitter chuckle. It had indeed been a year since he'd played Josh's game, and not a day had gone by when Neku wasn't glad he _hadn't_ seen him.

"I asked you what you wanted," Neku said, sticking his hands in his pockets. Josh sighed. "Very well," he said. "Come inside."

The two stepped inside the ramen shop and as always, Sebastian served them his specialty with a smile.

When they were alone, Josh smiled and took a bite. "Ahhh," he said. "I always forget how good this stuff is."

"Is this just a social call or something?" Neku said bluntly. "Because if it is, I have somewhere to be..."

Josh chuckled and Neku decided the snot hadn't changed a bit. "I always forget how impatient you are, too," the blonde said with a smirk. "Fine, if you must know, I have a favor to ask of you."

"Uh-uh, no way, whatever it is, I don't wanna be a part of it."

"Hee hee hee."

Neku grit his teeth and scowled. Josh noted his look with something akin to pleasure and then continued.

"You haven't even heard what I wanted yet," he said. Neku leaned back in his chair. "It doesn't matter," he said. "I'm not helping you with whatever scheme you've got planned. I'm not being your tool again."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Josh said. "I've already got one this time."

The words took only an instant to sink in. "What!?" Neku hissed. Josh smirked.

"Why, Neku, surely you don't care, it isn't anybody you know, I promise!"

"You know that's not it, Josh," Neku said angrily. "Whether it's someone I know or not, no one deserves to be used like that. What's the deal this time, playing another game with your producer?"

Josh shook his head. "Don't be silly, Neku," he said. "I'm not using him as a Proxy, no, he's more like... clean-up duty."

_Somehow, that just makes it worse._ "Clean up duty? What, you turn environmentalist or something?"

"Hee hee hee, you know it," Josh said. "But that's not the type of clean up I was talking about. Something's come up in the UG, something even worse than Taboo Noise."

Neku bit the hook. "Really?" He asked. "How worse?"

Josh sighed. "They can't be erased."

This time, Neku really was surprised. "Wha-!?" He said. "How is that possible? I thought all Noise could be erased!"

"That's just the thing," Josh said. "They aren't Noise."

"Not Noise!? Then what are they!?" Neku asked. "Heartless," Josh said. "They're called the Heartless. They're creatures without hearts."

Neku blinked. "...Huh?"

Josh smirked again. "Really, Neku, is it that hard to understand? Every person has a heart, right?"

Neku nodded. "Good," Josh said. "Now, if a person were to lose their heart, they're not exactly a person anymore, are they?"

"What are you talking about," Neku interrupted. "People can't just... lose their hearts!"

"Hee hee hee, and you're an expert on this?" Josh said. Neku could have growled. Josh ignored him and continued.

"When a person loses their heart, they become a heartless. Heartless are a lot like Noise, but very different at the same time. The only way to destroy a Noise is to erase it, the only way to destroy a Heartless is to unlock it."

"I'm sorry, unlock?" Neku said, raising his eyebrows.

"Hee hee, yes," Josh said, giving Neku a smirk. "There are certain people out there who have especially strong hearts. These people are given special weapons called Keyblades, giant Keys with the power of unlocking anything and everything. They're charged with protecting places like this from the Heartless, and so they travel around, unlocking the Heartless before they spread."

"And let me guess," Neku said, crossing his arms. "You happened to find one of these guys, and now you've got him where you can use him to clean up the UG?"

"Perceptive as always," Josh said with a smirk. Neku could have punched him.

"Did this guy agree to the Game?" Neku asked. Josh smiled. "Yes, he did. As soon as I explained that the Heartless were only to be found in the UG, he was more than eager to get started."

"Yeah, I'll bet," Neku said. "Now tell me, did this guy know before hand how to enter the game, or did you spring it on him like you did on me?"

Josh grinned. "Why spoil a surprise early?" He said. "Besides, even if the kid had agreed to such a deal, his two friends wouldn't have stood for it. I saw that at a glance."

"Friends?" Neku echoed quietly. So whoever this poor sap was, he had friends, and something told Neku he didn't want to know what had happened to these friends.

"Entry fee," Josh explained. "It was quite convenient, actually. I couldn't have them trying to revive him or go blabbing about a murder."

"No, of course not," Neku said sarcastically. He was furious, and he knew Josh knew that.

Neku wasn't dumb. He knew that Josh had told him all this for a reason. He was trying to get Neku to feel sorry for whoever this guy was so he would agree to help Josh with whatever he had planned.

"Sorry, Josh," He said, standing up. "I'm not helping you. Not this time. I don't know what you wanted me to do, but you'll have to figure out something else."

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Josh said. "You see, what I wanted you to do was enter the game again, and partner up with my guy. He's not exactly a powerhouse, you understand. It wouldn't do to lose him on the first day."

Neku turned around and looked at Josh in confusion. "But I thought I couldn't play again?" He said. "I thought the last time was _my_ last time."

Josh smirked. "It was," he said. "But I'm the Composer. I make the rules. I can just as easily change them."

Neku shook his head. "Forget it, Josh," he said. "Even if I can play again, I'm not risking any of _my_ friends becoming my entry fee."

"Your entry fee will be waived," Josh said, smirking again. Neku started. "What!?" He asked. Josh shrugged. "Neku," he said. "The first week you entered, what was your entry fee?"

Neku was confused. "My memories," he said. Josh nodded. "And the second week?" Neku looked away. "Shiki."

"Yup. And the third?"

"All the other players."

"Correct! Don't you see it now?" Josh smiled. "Your first entry fee was yourself. That was all you cared about. The second was your lady friend. Your only friend, at that time. Third, you lost everyone. Anyone who could have helped you was taken as your entry fee."

"Yeah, so?" Neku asked. Josh snickered. "You're a fast learner, Neku," he said. "Your world began shifting and opening from the moment you met Shiki. I don't think I've ever seen improvement like yours before. At the rate you moved from you and you only to every other player in the game, don't you realize how fast your world has expanded since then?"

Neku frowned. "What are you getting at, Josh?" He asked. Josh grinned. "Neku," he said. "Your entry fee would have been Shibuya itself, and everyone in it, Reaper or otherwise."

Neku gasped. "What!?" He asked. Josh giggled. "Oh, your face is priceless!" He said. "But yes. Think about it. You're friends with just about every store owner in Shibuya. You know the stories of almost every single one of your classmates, and treat them accordingly. Hee hee hee, you're even on first-name basis with the Composer of Shibuya, not to mention you were the one to redeem the city anyway."

Neku was stunned. He'd had no idea his world was getting that big. Josh smiled and continued.

"So, your entry fee becomes null on the grounds that collecting it would cause the game to become inoperable," he said. "Plus, I can guarantee your safe passage into the game, without you having to die to enter."

Neku was stunned. "You could get me in without killing me!?" He asked. Josh smirked. "Yes, as long as you have the Imagination for it," he said. "And I could get you access to all the pins, Yen, and items you need to get through the Game."

Neku couldn't believe it. This was all way too unreal. But... he couldn't do it.

"Sorry, Josh," He said. "I'm still not helping." Josh sighed. "Very well," he said. Neku looked at him suspiciously. "... That's it?" He asked. Josh smirked. "That's it," he agreed. "If you say you won't help me, then you won't help me. I'll simply... find someone else."

Neku froze. "...What?" He asked. Josh smirked. "You aren't the only Player to ever survive the Game, Neku," he said. "If you don't want to help, I completely understand. I'll simply have to ask someone else to guide my man. I can think of at least three others who might work..."

Neku stuck his hands in his pockets, resigned now to his fate. "... I don't have a choice, do I?" He asked. Joshua looked offended. "You always had a choice, Neku," he said. "You could walk away right now, and let this become someone else's problem. That makes this a choice."

Neku would have throttled the Composer if he could have. "...Fine," he said quietly. "I choose to help."

"Hee hee hee, suit yourself," Josh said, smiling. "Don't worry about anything, you've got the easy part. Just close your eyes, and you'll be at the Scramble Crossing before you know it."

"Wait, how will I know which one's... your guy?" Neku asked, hesitating when it came to addressing someone as Josh's anything.

Josh smirked. "You'll figure it out," he said. Then there was a flash of light and everything was gone.


	2. Day One

_Author's note: In response to a question, this story takes place a year after TWEWY, making Neku around 16, and I'd say sometime during KH2, as if Shibuya was another world Sora had to go to, making Sora about 15. So, Sora would look the way he did during KH2._

* * *

**Day 1:**

* * *

The first thing Sora noticed was that he was tired. Really, really tired. He hadn't felt this tired since the night his home islands were destroyed and he received the Keyblade.

The second thing he noticed was that he was lying on the ground, concrete by the feel of it.

Opening his eyes, Sora saw shoes. Apparently, he was lying in the middle of the street and there were a bunch of people walking past him.

Sora stood up and looked around. Was this the UG? It looked just like the place he'd been earlier with Donald and Goofy.

With that thought, Sora realized that Donald and Goofy were nowhere in sight.

"Donald!" he called. "Goofy!"

There was no response. Suddenly, he heard a strange beeping coming out of his pocket. Reaching in, he pulled out a small red cell phone. Flipping it open, he read the incoming text.

**Destination: 104. Time: 60 minutes. Penalty: Erasure.**

A stinging pain burned itself onto Sora's hand. Taking off his glove, Sora looked down and saw a red timer, ticking down from 60 minutes. _They burned it onto my hand!? _This was one hard-core game.

Sticking the glove in his pocket, Sora re-read the text. _This must be the mission,_ he thought. He scratched his head in confusion. What was 104? Did he have to destroy 104 heartless or something? No, that didn't make any sense. And what did it mean, Erasure?

Sora sighed. "What do you make of it, Jiminy?" He asked. There was no response. "Jiminy?" Sora looked around and checked his pockets. No Cricket. Apparently, Jiminy had gone wherever Donald and Goofy had gone.

Sora shuddered as another thought entered his head. With all the people rushing around, it would be very easy for a cricket to get hurt in this place.

Deciding he'd better get started, Sora looked around. First things first, he had to find Donald and Goofy, and Jiminy.

"Donald!" He called again. "Goofy!"

Running across the street, he was about to head down the alley he'd run down earlier, but with a jolt, he stumbled backwards as a row of hexagons lit up, blocking his way. It was some kind of force field.

Turning, he ran towards another street. He paused before he reached it, and held a hand out. There was another force field.

He was about to try another street when he heard some kind of static. Turning around, he saw... "Frogs?"

He'd never seen Heartless like that before. Summoning his Keyblade, Sora got ready for a fight, but was surprised to realize that he felt weakened all of a sudden.

He didn't have time to ponder this, however, as one of the frogs jumped out at him.

Sora swung at it with his Keyblade. It went right through the frog.

"Wha-!?" Sora exclaimed, jumping back as the frog attacked him. It stung.

"Gah!" He yelled. He dodged as another frog jumped, and swung at it with his Keyblade.

The Keyblade went right through the thing, and the frog flickered out of focus for a second, as if the Keyblade had gone through some holographic image.

Only it wasn't a hologram. Another frog jumped and attacked, causing Sora to wince from the pain. Why couldn't he fight these things!?

With the Keyblade not working, there was only one thing to do. Sora turned and ran. He slowed down before he reached the last street, but there didn't seem to be any force field here.

So he ran down that street, the frogs in pursuit. He stopped when he reached a statue of a dog.

"Goofy!" He called desperately. "Donald! Where are you!?"

* * *

As soon as Neku woke up, he headed for the Statue of Hachiko, where he started watching for Josh's "guy."

He still wasn't sure how he was supposed to tell which one he had to help, and he was angry at Josh for sticking him in the Game again, without even proper directions.

Neku waited as Player after Player partnered up or were erased. For every erased player, Neku felt a stab of guilt. He could have helped them, if he wasn't on orders to wait for a certain one.

He was about to screw Josh and his plans and partner up with a guy with green hair who was totally freaked when suddenly, Josh's guy came running into view.

Neku inwardly growled at Josh for knowing that Neku would spot the guy when he saw him. Why did the snot have to be so right?

The guy was obviously not from around town, his overcomplicated outfit testified to that. Neku wasn't sure he'd ever seen so many buckles, chains and zippers on one individual before. Plus, the guy's hair was even spikier than Neku's, which was actually quite an accomplishment. Neku wondered briefly how much hair gel the guy had gone through to get it to stick up like that.

The real zinger, however, was the giant key the guy was carrying. That, coupled alongside the fact that the kid was yelling out two names as if his life depended on it, was enough proof for Neku.

With a sigh an an inward _You totally owe me for this, Josh_, Neku walked up to the guy.

"Hey," he said, getting the guy's attention. "Make a pact with me."

"What?" The kid asked. Neku sighed. "Make a pact with me, and we'll become partners," he said. "It's the only way to survive the game."

The kid blinked. "Oh," he said. "Okay. How do I make a pact with you?" Neku paused. He'd never actually thought about it. "You just do," he said. "You don't think about it, you just... make a pact with me."

"Alright," the kid said calmly. This surprised Neku a little bit. The kid was taking it well, as if this sort of thing were an every day occurrence.

"...Alright," he said.

With a bright flash of golden light, the two of them were partners.

"There," Neku said. "Now we're partners. The Noise won't bother us now."

"Noise?" Asked the kid. "Yeah," Neku said. "Those monsters that attacked you earlier. They're called Noise. But I don't think that's what you're here for, is it?"

The kid looked a little startled, but he opened right up. "No," he said. "I thought they were Heartless. No wonder the Keyblade didn't work on them."

Neku looked at the giant key in the boys hand, but with another flash of light, the weapon disappeared.

"Anyway," the kid said. "I'm Sora. What's your name?"

_Sora, huh? What, no last name?_ "...My name's Neku," he said. "Neku Sakuraba."

"It's nice to meet you, Neku!" Sora said enthusiastically. Neku blinked. This Sora kid seemed way too trusting for his own good. No wonder Josh had used him. This kid was practically begging for someone to take advantage of him.

"So, Sora," Neku said. "I'm not just another Player." Better to get everything out in the open now, or there would be major trust issues later, and in the Game, trust was something you couldn't do without.

Sora looked confused. "Huh?" he asked.

"I've been in this game before," he answered. "Three times, to be exact. I won all three."

"Wow, you must be really good at it!" Sora said with a smile. Neku rolled his eyes. "Yeah," he said. "I must be. But this time, I didn't join for the same reason."

"Oh?" Sora said. "Why'd you join?"

"This time, I was sent here by Joshua," He said. He saw a flash of recognition in Sora's eyes. "Joshua?" he said. "You mean that guy who told me where to find the Heartless?"

"That's the one," Neku said. "Joshua's not a normal person like you or me." _If we could classify as normal, that is. The kid who's been dead three times and the monster fighter with a giant key._ "Joshua runs the Game. He's the Composer, he makes all the rules and he's in charge of the Reapers."

"Reapers?" Sora asked in confusion. Neku paused. Maybe he should try a different approach. "How much did Josh tell you about the Game before you entered?" He asked.

Sora looked up and began listing things on his fingers.

"He told me the Game was in a place called the UG, you got a mission on your cell phone for every day, and you had to pay some sort of fee to get in."

Neku stared at Sora. The kid barely knew anything! "Oh boy, where do I start?" Neku said out loud, looking up at the sky as if that would make things easier. "Okay, first things first, what did he tell you about your entry fee? Didn't you ask what it was?"

Sora frowned in thought. "I did," he said. "Joshua said that your entry fee depended on who you were. That it wasn't the same for each person."

"Well, that's true," Neku said. "But what Josh didn't tell you was that your entry fee is whatever you hold most dear."

Sora's eyes grew wide. "What!?" He said. Neku nodded. He already knew what Sora's entry fee was, of course. His entry fee had been his friends. "Whatever you value most," he said. "That's what they take away at the beginning of the game."

Sora swallowed and gave another quick glance around. "But... but Joshua said if I lose..."

"Yeah," Neku said. "If you lose, your entry fee is gone forever."

Sora looked terrified. "But... they can't actually take... people, right!?"

Neku was angry at Josh again. Angry at him for taking this kid's friends and then leaving him to explain it all. "They can," he said. "When I was in the game before, they took a bunch of people I cared about, and they would have erased them if I lost."

Sora looked even more terrified than before. "Erased!?" He said. "What does that mean!?"

"It means they don't exist anymore," Neku explained. "That's what the Noise do, they erase Players."

Sora reached into his pocket and pulled out a small red cell phone. "So when the mission said the penalty was erasure..."

"You got it," Neku said. "If we don't complete the mission, we get erased."

Sora looked stunned. "What kind of game is that!?" he said. "Why would anybody enter this thing!?"

Neku sighed. Apparently, Sora didn't know why people played the game. That meant he didn't know how he'd really gotten here. That made things a bit harder.

"Sora," he asked. "How'd Josh get you into the Game?"

Sora blinked. "I'm not really sure," he said. "He said he'd sign me up, and then there was a really bright flash of light. It kinda hurt for a second, and then I woke up on that street."

"Sora," Neku said bluntly. "People only enter the Game for one reason. It's a way to earn a second chance." "Second chance at what?" Sora asked.

Neku looked down. "A second chance at life," he said. Sora was quiet for a second. "...You mean, I'm..."

Neku nodded. "You're dead," he said. Sora looked bewildered. "But, I'm alive right now," he said. "I'm standing right here, talking to you..."

"That's because you're a player," Neku said. "The Game takes place in the UG. All the people you see standing around, they're in the RG. Joshua knew Heartless were invading the UG, so he found you. You've got the Keyblade, you were tracking down the Heartless. But you couldn't see any, because they were all down here."

"So... Joshua needed me to come down to the UG to fight the Heartless?" Sora asked quietly. Neku nodded.

"And he took my friends as an entry fee?" Neku looked up at him. "Fraid so," he said. Sora took a deep breath. "So I have to win the Game or my friends will be erased, and I'll be erased too?"

"Yup," Neku said. Sora looked determined. "Well then," he said. "Let's get going!"

Before Neku coud so much as blink, Sora took off running. _Wha-!? Why'd he just run off!?_ "Hey!"

Ignoring Neku's protests, Sora ran off in the direction of the street he'd woken up in earlier. Stopping in the middle and staring at the hundreds of people walking by, he looked absolutely lost.

"Sora!" Neku called, as he ran to catch up with him. Sora turned and looked at him as he drew closer.

"Don't run off like that," Neku said angrily. "We're Partners, we're supposed to stick together."

Suddenly, a feeling of familiarity flashed over him and he remembered that day a year ago when Shiki Misaki had said almost the exact same thing to him. Struck by the memory, Neku laughed.

"What's so funny!?" Sora demanded. "We're dead, and everything we value the most could be erased!"

Neku blinked. "That's another thing," he said, fidgeting a little as if he were nervous. "I'm not dead."

Sora froze. "...Huh?" He asked. Neku looked away. "I'm not dead, and I don't have an entry fee. Not this time around."

"But, you said all the Players were dead," Sora said. "And everyone has to pay an entry fee!"

"Yeah, well, I know the Composer, so he cut me a deal," Neku said. "Pretty much, he sent me here to keep an eye on you."

"Me!?" Sora asked, surprised. "Why me!?"

"Because you have a Keyblade," Neku said bluntly. "Josh needed you to clear out the Heartless, so he wanted someone experienced to partner up with you and guide you through the game. Sort of like a tour guide, only this matters."

"Oh, so you're the person to know, then?" Another voice spoke up.

"Wha-!?" Neku whirled around and saw a girl with a brown ponytail, folding her arms and watching them. Behind her was the green haired guy Neku had noticed earlier.

"Wh-where did you come from!?" Neku asked in surprise. The girl gave a small chuckle.

"Originally? I was born in Ryugasaki. Later? My family moved to Shibuya when I was seven. Recently? Hit-and-run over near Molco. A few seconds ago..."

"Yeah, that's what I was referring to," Neku said. What was up with this girl?

"Oh, well sure," the girl said sarcastically. "Followed you from the statue of Hachiko. Me and Greenie here partnered up."

"The name's Hitoshi," said the boy. "Hitoshi Yokayoma. She's Hana-Kaida Kaneko."

"Nice to meet you," Sora said. "I'm Sora!" He was about to introduce Neku as well, but Neku cut him off. "My name's Neku Sakuraba," he said. "You followed us? Why?"

"To get to know some of the other Players, that's why!" said Hana-Kaida, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Looks like we picked a good group to start with, if you were sent here by someone on the inside."

Neku looked away. How much had she heard? It was all well and good to trust your partner, but blabbing to everyone that you got in under special privileges? He had to be more careful.

"...Well?" Hana-Kaida asked. "Did you get a free ride or what?"

Neku sighed. There was no denying it now.

"Yes," he said quietly. "But I didn't ask for this. In fact, I didn't want to accept it when it was offered to me. Either I had to do this job, or one of my friends would, and I can't risk them."

"I hear ya, man," Hana-Kaida said. "But hey, this works out better for us, wouldn't you say? Now Hitoshi and I know exactly who to call when we're stuck on a problem. By the way, what's with this mission? I tried to get to 104 earlier, and there was some sort of wall there, keeping me out."

Neku groaned inwardly. So now he was going to have to answer these kid's questions as well as Sora's.

"Before I answer that, you gotta promise me you won't tell anyone else about me getting in free," he said. "I can't be everybody's babysitter."

Hana-Kaida shrugged. "Fine by me," she said. "As long as I make it out alive, I'm good. So, the mission?"

Neku looked at her. She seemed ruthless. "...The reason you couldn't get to 104 earlier was because of the wall. Walls are invisible barriers set up between streets. Some walls can't be removed, but there are other walls that can be."

"How do you tell 'em apart?" Hana-Kaida asked. Neku blinked.

"I was getting to that," he said. "There's always a Reaper hanging around a wall that can be removed. It's usually a guy dressed in red, but sometimes it's a guy dressed in black with a red bandana. If you talk to these guys, they'll give you small mini-missions, called objectives, and you have to meet the objective before they take down the wall."

"Oh, that makes sense!" Hana-Kaida said. "Thanks. Come on, Hitoshi, let's go find out how to take that wall down!"

With that, the girl ran off, followed by Hitoshi, who looked a little annoyed with her.

Neku watched them and then turned to Sora. "Now then," he said. "Where were we?"

"You understood the mission the whole time?" Sora asked. "Let's go! Time is ticking, and I gotta save my friends!"

"Would you relax?" Neku said, grabbing Sora's arm before he could run off again. "Trust me, everything's under control."

"What? How can you say that!?" Sora asked. "What if we don't make it!?"

"First off, I've played this game three times before," Neku said. "I know the rules, and if I say everything's under control, then everything's under control. Second, you won't be able to help your friends by just running headlong into situations you aren't prepared for. Now tell me truthfully, what did you think you had to do to complete this mission?"

Sora thought for a second. "I don't know," he said finally. Neku nodded. "Right," he said. "You didn't know what 104 was, you _still_ don't know what 104 is. If you had just run non-stop, without any sort of plan or idea of what you were supposed to do, you'd never have completed the mission."

"Alright," Sora said. "So, what is 104?"

Neku pointed to the tall building down the street. "That's 104," he said. "It's sort of like a shopping center. It's always having sales and stuff."

For a second, Neku wondered if Shiki would be there. What would she think if she knew where he was right now? Had Joshua told them? Did they think he was dead again? He hoped not. They all knew he wasn't supposed to play the Game a fourth time. If they thought he was dead, they wouldn't have any hope for seeing him again.

But then he turned his attentions back on Sora, who was practically hopping in place.

"Well, let's go!" he said. "I can see it, we could get there in a matter of seconds!"

"Slow down," Neku said, chuckling at Sora's hyperactivity. "The mission should clear any second!"

Sora froze and looked at him. "What!?" He asked. Neku smiled. "I told you everything was under control," he said. "Not everybody has to clear the mission. As long as one team makes it, we all make it. And the first objective is always to form a pact, so Hana-Kaida and Hitoshi should be reaching 104 right now."

Sure enough, there was a small flash and a numbing sensation in both Players hands, and Sora looked down to see that the timer was gone.

"You mean, that's it?" he asked. "The mission was for two people to form a pact and then walk two blocks to a store?"

"Don't get too comfortable," Neku warned. "The first day's always a breeze. It gets much harder from now on."

Sora breathed a sigh of relief. "One day down," he said. "Six more to go."

"That's another thing," Neku said. "You have another job this week besides surviving the Game. What happened to tracking these Heartless things?"

"Oh yeah," Sora said. "I kinda forgot about that 'cause I was worried about Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy." Sora reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked like a star made out of seashells. "...Do you think they took all my friends?" He asked quietly, looking at the star. "Or was it just the ones who were with me?"

Neku shrugged. "I really don't know," he said. "Sometimes they take the friends themselves, sometimes they take the memories of your friendship. My first week, my friend's entry fee was his sister. She was a player too, so they made her forget him. My second week, my entry fee was my partner from my first week."

"Wow, that's rough," Sora said. "Why are you telling me all this?"

Neku shrugged. "Partners are supposed to trust each other," he said. "And it's hard to trust someone who's keeping secrets. Better to get it all out in the open now, so we won't have problems later."

"Oh," Sora said. "Well, in that case, I probably ought to tell you something, too."

Neku looked at Sora. "Well, Josh already told me about the Heartless and the Keyblade," he said. "What else could you tell me?"

"I'm not from Shibuya," Sora said. Neku chuckled. "Josh told me that, too," he said. "Besides, you don't exactly fit in. I could have guessed it myself."

"He told you that, too?" Sora asked in surprise. Neku nodded. "Wow, you sure take news lightly," Sora said smiling. "Not many people believe in other worlds at first."

Everything stood still for a second. Neku blinked, unsure he had heard right.

"Did you say... other worlds? As in, different planets entirely?"

Sora nodded, looking around. "This one is probably the most complicated," he said. "Even Atlantica was easier to get used to."

Neku stared at Sora, completely shocked. Other Worlds!?

* * *

**Day 1: Expansion**

**Complete**


	3. Day Two

_Author's Notes: First off, I'm so very sorry for how long it's been since my last update. I have no real excuse, and I'll try my very best not to let it happen again. Second, major thanks to AlicediAngeloDaughterofHades for asking me to continue this fic, and for subsequently getting me re-inspired for it. Since 3D came out since my last update, I now have to mark this fic as an AU, because in this story, Shibuya is another World KH2 Sora visited, so he wouldn't have met Neku in Traverse Town, like he does in the KH Canon._

_Please enjoy the story!_

* * *

**Day Two**

* * *

Standing up, Neku looked around, he was back in the Scramble. Stretching his arm, he took a moment to let his head clear. It was always a little fuzzy, waking up after being dead all night.

Suddenly, he remembered Sora's announcement from the day before, and he looked around again, looking for the kid. He didn't see him at first, so that meant he had to wait for Sora to wake up.

This gave him a chance to watch the people for awhile, and that reminded him that he still hadn't had a chance to check out his pins yet.  
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a handkerchief filled with the tiny plastic weapons. Unwrapping the small bundle, he was pleased to discover that Josh had provided him with his entire collection from last time.

He took a moment to organize them, surprised at how easily all his knowledge returned to him. He'd been trying to forget for a year, and now... he already felt as if he had never left. He was sliding into his groove. Only one thing was missing.

The music.

With a small smile, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small iPod, wrapped tightly with a pair of white ear-buds. When he was by himself, he still preferred his full-set headphones, but he'd taken to wearing ear-buds whenever he was out, for the simple reason that with ear-buds, he wasn't shutting the world out, just enhancing it. Especially if he left one speaker hanging from his jacket instead of putting it in his ear.

Putting his playlist on shuffle, he felt a smile tugging at his lips. He could handle anything now.

Just in time, it seemed, as Sora stood up a few feet away and yawned. "Boy," Sora said. "That was some nap."

_Wait. Is he talking to himself?_ "Hey," Neku said.

Sora turned around. "Neku!" He said with a smile.

Neku raised his eyebrow. "...Morning," he said. "So, I've been thinking. And I guess I believe you about other worlds. I mean, just looking at you, I can tell, you're not Shibuya stuff. And Shibuya's diverse as it is."

"What's wrong with how I look?" Sora demanded.

"Well, for starters, you're trying too hard," Neku said, evaluating Sora's outfit with a critical eye. "I mean, don't get me wrong, a few buckles and chains here and there, that's fine. But seriously, you look like you just got an early allowance and went crazy in a Wild Boar emporium. And one glove? 80's pop-star imitation doesn't work very well in this district."

"Uuuh..." Sora said. "I'm not sure what Wild Boar is. But I can't get rid of my chains! They enhance my magic!"

"...What?" Neku asked.

"Yeah," Sora said. "The chains change the Keyblade's form," he said. "I collect the different chains from the worlds I protect, and they grant special powers to the Keyblade, to help me fight."

Neku didn't find it so hard to believe, it was the same basic concept with the pins, really. The pins you wore gave you different abilities to help you fight the noise.

"Alright," he said. "You can keep the chains. But everything else needs to change."

With a beep, their phones went off, and Neku pulled his out of his pocket, Sora doing the same.

**Destination: Tipsy Tose Hall. Target: No. 33. Time: 120 minutes. Fail and Face Erasure.**

"So..." Sora said. "The target is number 33? What does that mean?"

Neku took a deep breath before explaining. "Each Noise is different," he said. "And they all have their own classifications and Noise number." Reaching into another pocket, Neku found that Josh had gone all out; his old Noise reports were there. Flipping through the pages, he found No. 33. "Noise number 33 is a Hard Corehog," he said. "And I guess our mission is to find the one in Tipsy Tose Hall and take it out. But before we do that, there's some stuff we have to get out of the way. First off, tell me about these Heartless. What do they look like, what are they, how do we fight them, all that stuff. If I'm supposed to help you through the game so you can clean them out of the UG, I have to be prepared."

"Um..." Sora looked up as if he were trying to remember something. "How to explain this... Well, there's darkness in every heart, right?"

"Sure," Neku said.

"Heartless are monsters born out of the darkness left over in people's hearts," Sora continued. "When someone loses their heart, all the Darkness inside it takes form. The more darkness in a person's heart, the more powerful their Heartless is."

"Wait a minute," Neku said. "what do you mean, losing your heart?"

"Oh, well, that's why the Heartless are so dangerous," Sora explained. "When the Heartless begin invading a world, it means that the people in that world are losing their hearts. That usually happens if the heart of the world itself is unlocked. That's why I have the Keyblade, not only can it release the Heartless, it can help me find the keyhole and lock it, sealing the world and keeping more Heartless from escaping."

"I see," said Neku. "So your job is to find this keyhole, and that'll stop these Heartless from attacking?"

"Right," Sora said. Then he looked around at the scramble crossing. "But I haven't seen any Heartless around here. Let's go look somewhere else!"

"First things first," Neku said. "While your main job is to fight the Heartless, we can't just completely ignore the mission. Yeah, other players can handle it too, but we still have to pay attention."

"Um, alright," Sora said. "So, should we go to Tipsy Tose Hall then? That's where the mission mail said to go."

"Yep, we'll head that way," Neku said. "If Josh is pulling the strings, he'll probably send missions that'll help you find the Heartless anyway."

As they talked, Neku led the way, walking towards Center Street. Reaching out a hand, a wall was made visible.

"A wall?" Sora asked. "What does that mean?"

Neku looked around, there was no Reaper to take the wall down. "It means that we have to go the long way around. But that's alright, I wanted to stop by Cat Street anyway."

"Why, what's at Cat Street?" Sora asked.

"I have a friend there I wanna get in touch with," Neku explained. "He might be able to help us with your Heartless problem."

With that, Neku led the way through the Shibuya Department Store and into Cadoi City. First he stopped by the entrance to Molco, where they found another wall, but there was a Reaper stationed there.

"Want past this wall?" He asked. "Defeat four Noise where I can see ya."

"Got it," Neku said. This would be as good a time as any to teach Sora to fight Noise, as he was sure it would come up at least once during the week. Plus, he wanted to get a feel for his partner's fighting style.

"Alright, Sora," he said. "Here's how we fight Noise. Check your pockets, you should have some pins in there."

"Pins?" Sora asked, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a handful. "What do they do?"

"They're like your chains," Neku said, smirking slightly as he drew on the comparison he'd made earlier. "The pins give you things called Psychs, which is sorta like Magic, I guess. You use Psychs to fight the Noise."

"Alright," Sora said, looking at the different pins.

"Everyone fights differently," Neku said. "So just try to get a feel for your style, and we'll work on perfecting it as we go. There's also a combo attack pin," Neku said, pulling the blank oversized pin from his pocket. "When you get fusion stars, which means that you've dealt a good hit, they power up this pin. Once you've powered it up enough, you and I will work together to defeat the Noise on both planes."

"Both planes?" Sora asked. "What does that mean?"

"Oh," Neku said. He'd left out the different planes. "Well, you know how we can see all the people in the RG, but they can't see us?"  
Sora looked around. "Yeah, I'd wondered about that," he said. "Planes... Are you saying that we're on two different realms of the same space? They overlap?"

"Wow, you picked that up pretty fast," Neku said. "But yeah, the UG is a different plane of existence than the RG. The Noise are actually on a plane of their own as well, but they're between the UG and the RG, making it so we can fight them, but the people in the RG can't see them."

"But I don't see any," Sora noted, looking around again.

"Well, we need to scan," Neku explained, pulling his player pin out of his pocket and giving it a toss. "That'll open up the Noise's plane, and we can fight them."

The world went blue, and the plane of thought opened up. Drawing four Noise Symbols to himself, Neku got into his game.

Finding himself against a few J Popguins, Neku began his attack, as he finished a combo and sent the light puck to Sora. Since their health was synced, he could feel that Sora had taken a hit, but then he seemed to get his bearings a bit, and one of the J Popguins was erased a few feet away, and the light puck returned to Neku. He smiled. This was going to go well, Sora was a natural fighter.

They continued like this for three rounds before the Harmonizer Pin lit up in the fourth chain. Neku took a second to look at the pin, which had changed to a pattern of a red streak and a purple streak swirling together in the center. Neku knew he was purple, so Sora must've been red.

Activating the Psych, Neku hovered off the ground as the two zones merged in one and he could see Sora across from him.

"You with me?" Neku asked.

"Let's do this!" Sora responded.

The wind began to pick up, as streaks of purple and red began circling Neku and Sora into a small tornado of sorts, picking up different street items and the Noise in the cyclone. For a few minutes, this continued, the twister speeding up.

Then Neku was in his own zone, and the remaining Noise were erased.

"That was fun," Sora noted as they returned to the UG.

Neku gave a half smile at Sora's enthusiasm. "...Yeah," he said. "Yeah, it was." Turning and walking away, he moved on to Towa Records.

"Aren't we gonna keep going now that the wall's down?" Sora asked.

"Yeah, but not yet," Neku said. "Cat Street is this way. We'll check in with my friend and see what he has to say, and then we'll focus on the mission."

"Alright," Sora said, following Neku through the Miyashita Park Underpass and then into Miyashita park itself.

"What!?" Neku said, stopping in surprise. There were several small dark monsters crawling around, they looked a little like Noise, but different at the same time. Along with the small ones that looked remarkably like ants, there were other monsters walking on two feet and wearing different bits of armor.

"Are these your Heartless?" He asked Sora, who had summoned his Keyblade.

"Yep!" Sora said. "These are just little ones, though. The plain ones are called Shadows, the ones in armor are Soldiers."

"Anything I can do to help?" Neku asked.

Sora thought on it. "I don't know," he said. "The Keyblade didn't work on the Noise. I'm not sure if your Psychs will work on the Heartless. But you can give it a shot."

With that, Sora took off and swung his Keyblade at one of the Shadows, where it evaporated, and as Neku watched, a crystal glowing heart rose out of it, before disappearing in a dark mist.

Sora moved onto one of the Soldiers, and Neku went the other direction, deciding to try his Psychs on one of the Shadows nearby. It didn't work, the Psychs only worked in the Noise's plane, the Heartless were here, in the UG. Neku groaned in frustration, how was he supposed to help if pins didn't work on the Heartless?

Nearby, Sora was taking out the Heartless with relative ease, with a smile even. It didn't look like he needed any help. But he had said these were the little ones. Neku could take on Dixiefrogs any day, but if he faced a tough Noise, he had to rely on his partner to help him finish the thing off. What would happen when Sora found a harder Heartless and had to take on it alone? Josh had said that Sora was traveling with two friends, Neku could only assume those friends helped him in his fights.

Soon though, the Heartless were cleared, and Sora turned to Neku, as the Keyblade disappeared with a flash of light. "It looked to me like they were coming from over there," he said, pointing towards Cat Street. "I'll bet there's a big one over there."

"Aw, great," Neku said. "So I tried my Psychs, they don't work on 'em."

"Hmm..." Sora looked down and folded his arms. "Well, other weapons defeat Heartless temporarily," he said. "They reform later, until they get released by a Keyblade, but it works."

"Other weapons?" Neku asked. "Where would I get a weapon? They don't exactly sell those in the Department Store."

Sora shrugged. "It's not too hard yet," he said. "Well figure something out when we need to. In the meantime, we'd better get going before the Heartless cause some serious damage over there."

"Right," Neku said, looking over at Cat Street. _I wonder if they're drawn to Mr. H,_ he thought. _He's got the imagination for it._

He followed Sora to Cat Street and looked around, there were a few more Soldiers running around, as well as a very fat Heartless and three floating blue things that looked a bit like bells. Sora got right to work taking out the bell Heartless, and then began picking off the Soldiers one by one. Neku knew this pattern, take the weaker enemies out one by one so they wouldn't attack while you fought the stronger one.

Looking around, Neku saw a Soldier eyeing him, and if Neku knew how monsters worked, the thing was about to attack. Sora had said that other weapons worked, and Neku knew how to hit. Hand-to-hand combat wasn't Neku's strong suit, but he could defend himself. Getting into his fighting stance, Neku smirked as Twister came on through his headphones. "Come and get some," he said, and the Heartless darted forward. Neku dodged it and gave it a punch in it's side, and the heartless drew back, turning to face him again. It was jumping around as if it couldn't quite sit still, and Neku moved in for another punch. He hit it a few more times before it lashed out, clawing Neku. It hurt, but he'd taken worse. "Ouch!" He said. Reaching out, he gave one more punch, and the Heartless disappeared in smoke, the crystal heart rising out of it and disappearing in darkness.

Neku smiled, he'd taken out one of the Heartless. He moved onto another Soldier, as Sora began attacking the fat Heartless.

Once the Heartless were clear, Sora ran up to him. "That was great!" he said. "You're a natural."

Neku smilied. "...Thanks," he said.

"Hey, Phones!"

Looking over, Neku saw Mr. H. walking over to him. "Hey, Mr. H," he said, walking the rest of the way, followed by Sora. "Do you know what happened here?"

"Meh, I was looking the other way," Mr. H. said. "All I knew was they flooded the street. I guess I got lucky, I was about to call you when you showed up on your own."

"Well, I'm glad we got here when we did, then," Neku said.

"I'll say," Mr. H. said before turning to Sora. "So, you're the Keyblade Wielder?"

"Yep!" Sora said. "I'm Sora!" Glancing behind them, Sora sighed.

"What's wrong there, Sora?" Mr. H. asked.

"Nothing," Sora said. "It's just weird without Donald and Goofy here."

"Donald and Goofy?" Mr. H. said. "Let me guess: Entry Fee?"

Sora nodded. "I'll just have to make sure to try my hardest to get them back!" he said.

"That's the spirit!" Mr. H. said with a laugh. "I'm Sanae Hanekoma, by the way," he said. "But everybody calls me Mr. H. I'm sort of a helper in the game."

"Really?" Sora asked, following as Neku and Mr. H. stepped into WildKat. "So, you probably know why the Heartless are here, huh?"

"Yep, I'm the person to talk to," Mr. H. said. "Before we get started, do you guys want something to drink? I can get you some coffee."

"Sure," Neku said. "So, how did the Heartless even get into the UG? Why not invade the RG?"

"Ah, that's an easy one," Mr. H. said as he poured the coffee. "They invaded the UG because that's where the keyhole is."

"That makes sense," Sora said. "Do you know where in the UG it is?"

"I'm afraid not," Mr. H. said. "All I know is that it's on this plane."

Sora sighed. "It was worth a shot," he said.

Mr. H. laughed. "I like you, Spikes," he said.

"Uh, Spikes?" Sora asked.

Neku laughed. "Mr. H. nicknames people," he said. "I'm Phones. And now, I guess you're Spikes."

Sora laughed as well, leaning back in his chair and putting both hands behind his admittedly spiky hair.

"Is there any way we can track the Heartless?" Neku asked. "The way Josh tracked down the river last time?"

"I'm afraid not," Mr. H. said. "The tracker from last time zeroed in on high levels of Imagination. That's why it kept bringing you to Sho's sculptures."

"The trash heaps?" Neku asked. "That was imagination?"

"Just 'cause you don't see the idea behind the art doesn't mean there wasn't one," Mr. H. noted. "One man's trash heap is another man's treasure."

"Nice," Neku quipped. "So, the Heartless, they're not drawn to Imagination?"

"Nope," Mr. H. said. "Why don't you ask Spikes what they're drawn to?"

Neku turned to Sora, who put his arms back down as he began to explain. "The Heartless are drawn to Darkness," he said. "They're born of it and they feed on it. So we'll probably find them near people with Darkness in their hearts."

Neku blinked. "But that's pretty much anybody," he said. "How are we supposed to track that?"

"Well, you can't," Mr. H. said. "Not in physical terms, anyway. So, no tracker."

"I usually go around and talk to people," Sora said. "There's almost always some sort of major problem, drawing the Heartless, and if I help out different people I meet, I can usually find the real problem pretty quick. You'd be surprised how many people can just sort of sense the darkness around them."

"Well, with the Player Pin, we can scan the people around us," Neku said. "We might pick up a few clues that way."

"You should talk to some of the other Players, too," Mr. H. said. "And some of the Reapers might know what's up as well. In the meantime, Phones, how do you plan on taking out the Heartless? Psychs don't work on them, as I'm sure you've figured out."

"Well..." Neku said. "Sora said that other weapons work on them temporarily, but I don't exactly keep one handy, so I just kinda beat on the Heartless I faced."

"Well, that won't do," Mr. H. said, standing up and walking to the vault. Opening it, he pulled something out and returned to Neku. "Here," he said, handing Neku a small black gun with a silver handle and a belt with a holster to match. "This is a pretty special gun," he said. "It works in the UG, it draws on the users Imagination and converts it to energy. You can use it to fight the heartless. It also comes in pin form." Mr. H. tossed a pin to Neku, who caught it and looked at it. It was a black pin with a white and silver bullet drawn graffiti style.

"CAT original," Mr. H. said with a smirk. "Pretty much makes the gun work in the Noise plane. Angel Class, Attack power 120, has four uses and a ten second recharge. And, in Tin Pin, it has 3 Sledgehammers, 5 Stingers, 5 Helping Hands, and 7 dive Bombers."

"Cool," Neku said, pocketing the pin before standing up and fastening the belt around his hip. "That's some good stats."

"You got it," Mr. H. said. "So, Sora, you figure out your battle style yet?"

"Yeah," Sora said. "I dealt mostly in Magic. As I was fighting, I could either deal in Fire, Blizzard, or Aero. The more hits I dealt, the more powerful the spell."

"Makes sense," Mr. H. said. "Oh, Phones, I almost forgot. I got a message for you, from Shiki."

"What!?" Neku said, leaning forward. "What did she say?"

"She came over to ask me why you'd disappeared, and if it had anything to do with the game," Mr. H. said. "When I told her what happened, she told me to tell you good luck, and she said that if you can catch her at the right time, you know where she'll be."

Neku blinked, surprised, before he smiled. He knew where she would be, alright. Shiki knew the game, she knew the rules. She spent most of her time in 104 anyway, and if the decal was still there, he would be able to show up and talk to her for awhile.

"Thanks," he said. "I didn't think of that."

"No problem, Phones," Mr. H. said with a smile of his own. "Now, the day's getting a little late, you guys might wanna move on and see how the mission's going."

Neku looked down at his hand. "Oh, you're right," he said, a jolt of anxiousness shooting through him. "We've only got twenty minutes left."

"What!?" Sora said. "Well, let's go, then!"

"Thanks for the weapon and the coffee," Neku said as they stood up. "And the message. I'll see ya later."

"Good luck Phones, Spikes," Mr. H. said with a smile. "Keep in touch."

"Will do," Neku said. With that, they left WildKat and began making their way back to Cadoi City. Going back to the entrance to Molco, Neku stopped by the Reaper.

"...Objective met," he said.

"Hey, BJ," Neku said. "Remember me?"

The Reaper did a double take. "...Sakuraba?" He asked. "Is that you!?"

"Yep," Neku said. "Surprised?"

"Boy, I'll say," BJ said. "You gotta be the unluckiest person ever. How'd you die this time?"

"I'm not dead," Neku explained. "Josh hired me out to help this kid look for a new kinda monster known as Heartless. Seen anything strange going on?"

BJ glanced at Sora and then shook his head, turning back to Neku. "Nope," he said. "At least, I haven't seen anything. But Tenho said something about certain routes being dangerous."

"Thanks," Neku said. "I'll keep a look out."

Passing by BJ, Neku and Sora headed through to Molco and then into Spain Hill.

"Yo."

Turning around, they saw Hana-Kaida and Hitoshi coming up. Hana-Kaida was in front, she was the one who had spoken. "Neku, was it?" She said. "I got a question for you."

Neku sighed. "Yeah?" He asked. "What is it?"

"So I got the whole deal about the wall and the objective," Hana-Kaida said. "That was easy to figure out. And since the Mission Mail made it pretty clear where we were supposed to be headed, I got to Tipsy Tose Hall no problem. And I got some information from the guy in charge of the wall, so I know that this "number 33" is a certain Noise."

Neku narrowed his eyes. "I'm not sure what your question is here," he said.

"Well, we can't find it," Hana-Kaida said. "We've been taking out Noise left and right, we're wracking up points like nobodies business. But we can't find our mysterious number 33."

"And there's that weird thing with the phone," Hitoshi noted. "You didn't tell them about that."

Hana-Kaida rolled her eyes. "We scanned some dude and he was thinking about food. He was really hungry and thought about getting two hot dogs, but decided on just one. Then Hitoshi's phone beeped and he got a text that said 'Just one.' That was it. He swears it must be important."

"Alright," Neku said. "If you can't find the Noise, there's probably some ulterior objective you have to complete before you can find it."

"Ulterior objective?" Hana-Kaida said, looking at her hand. "Great, we've only got twelve minutes and 26 seconds left. How are we supposed to figure out some ulterior objective?"

"Well, let's get to the Hall and give it a shot," Neku said. "It probably has something to do with the meme as well. That's the phrase you got on your phone."

As they ran, Neku slipped his own phone out of his pocket and checked the text message. He now had the meme as well, "Just One" had been sent to his phone when Hana-Kaida said it.

"A meme is when something someone says has something to do with your mission," he explained once they got to Tipsy Tose Hall. "You can use your Player Pin to scan people, and if you have a meme, you can imprint it into people's minds, if they're trying to make a choice about something."

"Wait, wait, wait," Hitoshi said, slowing to a stop. "Hana-Kaida, remember that one dude that was pacing back and forth over by Stride? Wasn't he freaking out about something when we scanned him?"

"You mean the guy in the blue jacket?" Hana-Kaida said. "With the big glasses?"

"Yeah," Hitoshi said. "At least, I think he was wearing blue."

"Let's go check it out," Sora said.

Neku nodded. "Sounds like the type to attract Negative Noise," he said. "I'll bet if you figure out what his problem is, number 33 will show up."

"Got it," Hana-Kaida said. "Come on, the guy's over here. Or, he was last time I checked."

Luckily, there was still a blue-clad man with glasses over by Stride. He was still pacing back and forth, and he looked pretty deep in thought.

"Orange, you do it," Hana-Kaida said, and Neku realized she was talking to him. "You've got the most experience, you could figure it out the quickest," she explained. "We've only got ten minutes minutes left. If we have to fight a boss after this, we don't have time to spare."

"Good thinking," Neku said, tossing his Player Pin into the air. The plane of thought came into focus, and he scanned the man's thoughts.

_"What on earth am I supposed to do?"_ the man was thinking. _"I have to do this. I have to. Come on, Mikio... It's just a job interview. You can do this... But... what if I freak out? What if I mess up? What if I say something stupid and make a fool out of myself again? One step at a time... One step at a time... Agh! I can't do this!"_

Seeing his cue, Neku imprinted the meme.

_"...Just one..."_ The man thought. _"Just one step. One step at a time... Oh, it's no use..."_

Neku pulled out of the man's thoughts, sure enough, a Negative Noise had been made visible, going crazy around the man.

"There's our target," Neku announced to Hana-Kaida and Hitoshi, right as Hana-Kaida gave out a short yell.

"What on earth is that!?" She exclaimed, pointing at the man as Sora drew his Keyblade.

_What, I don't see anything!_ Neku thought. Then he remembered, he was in the Noise Plane. Pulling out, the Negative Noise symbol disappeared, only to be replaced by a cloud of darkness with eyes, floating around the man.

"It's a Heartless," Sora said. "He must be feeding off the darkness in that guys heart!"

"Heartless!?" Hitoshi said. "What's that!?"

"That's my job," Sora said. "I'm here to release them."

"You two," Neku said, turning to Hana-Kaida and Hitoshi, who still looked frightened and confused. "Run a scan. I made the Noise symbol visible, you guys take it out. We'll handle the Heartless."

"Got it," Hana-Kaida said, tossing her player pin. After a moment, she and Hitoshi faded out, presumably going to the fight zones.

Neku took his gun out of it's holster and cocked it. "What are we facing?" He asked Sora.

"A Massive Possessor," Sora said. "They're made of several different Possessors, once we beat it, it'll split up. They don't live very long, but if you let them get too close, they suck away your life."

"Alright, don't let them get close," Neku nodded his understanding. "Let's do this."

"Right," Sora said, holding his Keyblade up before rushing at the Heartless. Jumping into the air, he slashed at the Heartless, which flew backwards.

Taking aim, Neku fired a few shots at it, and was pleased to see it flash red for a second as it took damage.

Sora slashed at it a few more times, and then pointed his Keyblade at it and yelled "Aero!" A blast of wind came from the tip of the blade, and Neku watched in awe as it fired at the Heartless, which suddenly split into several smaller versions, like Sora had said it would.

Sora moved his focus to one of the Possessors, and without having to worry about hitting him on accident, Neku was able to take out another one fairly easily. Turning around, Neku took a step back; one of them had snuck up on him from behind. It enveloped him and he suddenly felt a little weak, and getting more weak with every second. _It must be sucking my health away,_ he thought. He couldn't very well fire at himself, so reaching up, he hit the thing with the hilt of his gun a few times until he got it off him, then he shot at it until it evaporated.

Looking over, he saw Sora finish off the last one. "There," Sora said with a small smile. "That takes care of that..."

Neku narrowed his eyes as Sora bent over, placing his hands on his knees and panting. "Are you alright?" Neku asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Sora said. "I guess I'm just off my game a bit. One of 'em got me."

Neku nodded. "Yeah, me too," he said. "So, what do you do if you're injured? I mean, when you fight Noise, any injuries you get disappear once you leave the Noise Plane. But we're still here."

"Oh, I can take care of that," Sora said. Raising his Keyblade into the air, he said "Heal!" A green light appeared, and Neku thought he heard chimes coming from the Keyblade. The green light settled on him and Sora, and he felt his strength return.

"There," Sora said.

Neku had to admit, the Keyblade was pretty handy. But there were other things to worry about. "Where's Hana-Kaida and Hitoshi?" He asked, looking around. "They should be finished by now." Looking at his hand, he saw that they only had four minutes left.

"Run a scan," Sora suggested. "Maybe we can see what's going on."

Taking Sora's advice, Neku scanned the area. The guy was still feeling down, but the Negative Noise was gone, which meant that either it had been erased, or it was being fought right then. Since Hana-Kaida and Hitoshi weren't back yet, Neku could only assume it was the latter.

Pulling out of the scan, he turned to Sora. "Nothing," he said. "We have to wait." Looking down at his hand, he saw they only had two minutes, fifty-three seconds. He felt anxious, what would happen if the mission didn't clear? If he wasn't really dead, would he wake up? And what about Sora? He couldn't let Sora be erased, and his friends with him.

Luckily, they didn't have to find out, as Hana-Kaida and Hitoshi appeared just then.

"YES!" Hana-Kaida yelled. "We totally beat that, Greenie!"

"Don't celebrate yet," Neku said, glancing down to see the time still there, at two minutes, seven seconds. "You still have to fix the guy's problem. Do the imprinting, quick!"

Hitoshi glanced at the guy in the blue jacket and hurriedly tossed his Player pin. Neku did the same, reading Mikio's mind as Hitoshi worked through it, just in case he had to step in.

_"One step at a time..."_ Mikio thought. _"One step at a time... Agh! I can't do this! ...Just one... One step at a time, and you can walk anywhere in the world, Granna used to say. I can do this! I can walk in there and DEMAND they give me a job!"_

As Hitoshi opened his eyes, the man took a deep breath and walked boldly into Stride.

Neku pulled out of the scan as well.

"We made it," Sora said, looking at his hand. The timer was gone. "That was close!"

"Yeah it was," Hana-Kaida said. "Could you go any slower next time, Greenie? Seriously, I thought we had too much time left over."

"Hey, the important thing is we made it," Neku defended.

"I suppose so," Hana-Kaida said. "Still though, I ought to have just done it myself."

Taking a second to remember that he had once been in the same position, Neku chuckled. "Maybe so," he said. "But sometimes you gotta rely on others to do stuff for you. No matter how hard you try, you'll never be able to handle everything alone."

"Worked well so far," Hana-Kaida said. "...But, you're right. Especially in this freak-show. Good job, Greenie."

"Heh, thanks," Hitoshi said with a small smile, looking nervously between Hana-Kaida and Neku. "I'll try to go faster next time anyway."

"Yeah, you will!" Hana-Kaida said, turning to him with a frown. "With our lives on the line, you'd better!"

Neku noticed Sora smile and look away. _He's probably thinking about his friends,_ Neku thought. _Today was a close call. I know how stressful that is, when everything is on the line like that._

"Hey Sora," Neku said.

Sora turned to him. "Hmm?" He asked.

Neku smiled. "We'll get through this," he said. "I promise, I'm not gonna let anything happen to your friends."

Sora smiled back. "Thanks," he said. "Partner."

* * *

**Day Two: Imagine That**

**Complete**


End file.
